PERSISTANT BUGGERS

Ok, Mona's had some time to play on this thing and keep you guys up to speed on the happenings around here. I've managed to sit on the sidelines and toss in my two-cents every now and again. But I figure it's my time to post something...now that this non-computer-savvy guy has finally figured out how to work this site.

Mosquitoes...

When the baby in the family can say "skeeeto" as one of his first dozen words (and looks up to the ceiling while clapping his hands together), you know we've had a bit of an infestation. Shortly after we moved in, we found ourselves hunting down these little things during the daylight hours. But at night there were always more willing to buzz our ears while we slept. Sometimes a child would find their way to our room to wake me so I could find and kill the one or two buzzing them in their room. And man can they hide well (the mosquitoes, that is. Not the kids).

The walls of the house are stark white, so if they land there, they stand out nicely (we've aquired a large number of dark smears on the walls, by the way...interesting decor really). But the cabinets, trim, furniture and doors are all various shades of brown wood. So if a brown mosquito lands on one of those areas, it might as well be invisible.

We've taken steps to combat the problem (like covering the vents with filters and getting some traps in place) and we were glad to know that these types were not the malaria-carrying kind. You'd think that with the weather dipping below 50 regularly this late in the year that the little buggers would have the common decency to die off. So not only are they persistent and sneaky, but rude too. Luckily at this point we've gone from about 6 sightings a day to 1 every other or so.

Because of all this, Teri asked me why God even made mosquitoes. I told her that He had to give the spiders something to eat. So being the inquisitive child that she is, she followed up with asking why God made spiders. Being the adept bug-killer that I am, my response was to tell her that it gave daddies something to do when they weren't busy playing with their kids or kissing mommy.

Ok, so not really.

I told her that whatever the reason is, God certainly has a good one. We may not always understand why He does what He does, but we can know that He DOES know what He's doing.

I'm constantly reminded of this whenever I have to change a little one's diaper (no really, this is pertinent, so stay with me here). When Joey gets fussy and doesn't want to be changed, he'll fight against me, causing me to take more time to change him and delaying his being able to get up and run around; which is what he's fighting for in the first place. So what could have been an easy 2 minutes turns into a 5 minute wrestling match. In some ways I could see myself in his position as I relate to God if I'm feeling particularly fussy or tired. And what I say to Joey I can easily imagine God saying to me. "Hold still, you darn kid!"

No wait, wrong thought. I think it was something more like;

"Be still, little one. Fighting against me only makes things take longer. Let me do what I need to here and you'll have what you need in just a sec."

So that's my 2-cents for now, I guess. I'll probably go back to being Mona's sounding board for a while whenever she posts. I'm curious to know what she'll write about next. Hopefully she won't dwell too much on the time I set the newspaper on a hot stove.

Or. . . . .whatever. . . . .

Well, Joey is home. I took him to the local Korean hospital for surgery on his two hernias early yesterday morning. The surgery went very quickly, and I was able to sit with him as he recovered. It was a little disconcerting to not be able to understand what was going on around me, but the nurses certainly seemed kind enough and the doctor was able to explain the basics in English. Yesterday afternoon was rough; Joey just could not get into a comfortable position while trying to rest. Today, he is playing around fine and is already getting in Chris' way! Thanks for all your prayers! 'til next time..... Mona

It's the end of the four-day weekend, and I have to go back to work tomorrow. I shouldn't complain - I end up with three four-day weekends this month. I took this coming Thursday and Friday off, as Joey goes in for surgery on Thursday. From what I hear, it is a common procedure, so I am keeping calm. I may be able to finish Nate's sweater. Hard to believe, but the main knitting is complete. All I have to do is sew the pieces together...then on to Teri's! I will have to take a picture of it on him and put it on here. I will also have to have Chip take a picture of me. After a bunch of weeks of debating with myself, I have chopped inches off my hair. I went trick-or-treating as a gypsy with wild hair...the next day I had it cut and then went to church. People didn't recognize me!

Chip and I have traditionally been the folks trying to figure out what to get for Christmas that last week - driving each other and everyone else nuts! One thing that Korea will do for us is force us to prepare ahead of time. With the time it requires to order and then the stores to mail stuff to us, we have to think of presents now. Although post has a good PX, it just doesn't have everything our kids can think of! Who knows...maybe I'll have time to make cookies this year!

Chip reached a new level on the bowling circuit. We had a family day at the local bowling alley. He beat his previous record of 195, bowling a 222, and it was the first time he did not have an open frame. Woo hoo! Me, on the other hand, ummm.... let's just say I averaged triple digits if you combined my two game scores...barely!